A young and growing population
At the time of the latest Insee census, carried out in 2020, the island had a declared population of 863,000. It is the most populous of the French overseas departments and the 23rd most populous in France. As the island is halfway between a family system closer to Africa, with still large families, and a European healthcare system with low mortality rates, its demography is constantly on the rise, although it is tending to slow down. Indeed, from 6 children per woman in the 1960s, the figure today is 2.43 children per woman, i.e. an almost ideal rate of generation renewal, placing Reunion third among French regions in terms of fertility, behind French Guiana and Mayotte. However, while the average age of first birth is only two years younger than in mainland France, the fertility rate among minors remains six times higher than in mainland France. As a result, Reunion's population remains young overall, with the under-20s accounting for 30% compared with 17% of the over-60s, but the population is gradually aging, thanks in particular to access to healthcare. As a result of this dynamic population, we expect to reach a million inhabitants by 2040. A deadline that leaves little time to make the necessary adjustments to housing, transport, employment and food production. A real challenge for the region, whose surface area is limited.
A very unevenly distributed population
The largest city on Reunion Island (and overseas) is Saint-Denis, in the north of the island. With almost 153,000 inhabitants (2020), the region's prefecture is a real magnet for the Indian Ocean. The next most populous communes are Saint-Paul (104,300), Saint-Pierre (83,930) and Le Tampon (80,778). But this breakdown by commune doesn't really reflect the size of the towns, as each communal territory groups together several towns and small villages whose population is sometimes difficult to estimate. The East, essentially agricultural, revolves around Saint-André (56,857 inhabitants) and Saint-Benoît (36,994 inhabitants). Finally, everything not close to the coast is considered the Hauts. The higher the altitude, the more rural the population. The smallest villages, groups of a few dwellings, are called "îlets" (the final "t" is to be pronounced). They may consist of just a few family dwellings, perched on the edge of a cliff, or nestled at the bottom of a valley, between a rampart and a river. Inland, the three cirques are inhabited. Salazie is the most populous, with 7,388 inhabitants, and its road links the village of Salazie to the four-lane highway in 20 minutes. Cilaos, more isolated, can be reached from Saint-Louis in over an hour via a winding road and has a population of 5,700. Mafate, finally, has no motorable road: it can only be reached on foot or by helicopter. Its population of around 700 is spread over several villages, the main one being La Nouvelle.
A close relationship with the metropolis
Eight out of ten of the island's inhabitants are native-born, and almost 14% live in mainland France. Population movements are fairly stable, with 5,100 working people leaving the island and 5,900 moving in. On the whole, new arrivals have a high level of education, and most often hold skilled jobs on the island. These migratory movements are relatively low compared to other regions of France. It's worth noting that one in four new arrivals from Reunion is also returning after several years in mainland France, often to study. The only downside is that, on average, those arriving in the département are older than those leaving. Nearly a third (31%) of those leaving are aged between 18 and 24, while over 60% of those arriving are aged between 25 and 59.
A mixed population
According to French law, it is strictly forbidden to count ethnic groups. This would be impossible on Reunion Island anyway, as the population is far too mixed to be "categorized". Diversity is so old that it's no longer surprising to see two white parents giving birth to a black child, or vice versa. To give an idea, but without any racial prejudice, estimates have counted around 45% Cafres (descendants of Africans), 25% Malbars (Tamil Indians), 15% white Creoles, 10% Zoreilles (metropolitan French), 3% Chinese, 3% Zarabes (Muslim Indians). Geographical distribution is easier to assess, but never mono-ethnic - these are trends, of course. The Zoreilles are very present in the West, the Malbars in the East, the Yabs (small white people from the Hauts) and Cafres in the Hauts and cirques. Chinese and Zarabes live just about everywhere, often close to city centers.
Coffee and white creoles, the origin of crossbreeding
Two main heritages form the initial foundation of Reunion's population. On the one hand, the descendants of the Europeans who came to settle on the island as early as 1663. They were divided between the large white farmers known as "gros Blancs", at the head of commercial and industrial empires, and the "petits Blancs" or "Yabs des Hauts", small landowners ruined by the successive crises of the 19th century, who left to seek a better future in the Hauts. On the other hand, the massive importation of slaves from Madagascar and East Africa, nicknamed "Cafres", in the early years of the colony, made them the largest population in numerical terms. Today, Cafres and white or mixed Creoles make up the bulk of Reunion's population.
Malbars and sugar industry
Following the abolition of slavery in 1848, the intermingling of cultures increased and diversified with the arrival of "indentured" Indian workers from the Malabar coast (present-day Tamil Nadu), recruited for low wages under a system akin to slavery to work on the plantations: this was "engagisme". More than 100,000 Malbars (a colloquial term for Hindu Indians) arrived on the island between 1848 and 1882 (when the recruitment of engagés was banned), along with engagés from Bombay and Calcutta. Their integration into the Reunionese population at the end of the 19th century was a long and painful story, punctuated by desertions and revolts. Many were forced to convert to the Catholic religion. But they never forgot their customs, and most of them are still both Hindus and Christians. They have a strong presence in the east, where many temples are built on the banks of rivers, water being a sacred element. Saint-André is their stronghold, and there's even a place of worship in the middle of the four-lane highway as a sign of welcome. Many descendants of "engagés" also live in Saint-Louis, where there is an ashram, and Saint-Pierre.
Zarabes and Chinese at the heart of trade
Muslims from India landed on the island to engage in the textile trade. They are called "Zarabes", although they are not Arabs at all, but Indo-Muslims; inhabitants of the Gujarat region in the far west of India, a coastal region close to present-day Pakistan. These Sunni Muslim Indians come to La Réunion for a variety of reasons. Firstly, for economic reasons: from the 19th century onwards, these farmers of Indian origin set up in the cloth trade. They first established themselves on the city's main thoroughfare, now rue Maréchal-Leclerc, and then opened small stores in all the districts of Saint-Denis. They are one of the island's wealthiest communities, and today dominate entire sectors of the retail, textile and tourism industries. They maintain close contacts with India, to which they often travel. Likewise, Asians, mainly Chinese from Canton, also arrived to trade in the 19th century. They run the traditional store in the village of Les Hauts, as well as other businesses in town, mainly restaurants and grocery stores. A few large families are also positioned in key sectors of the economy or administration.
Zoreilles and tropical immigration
Until a few years ago, Zoreilles were the most recent immigrants. Attracted by the "overpaid" civil service, the sun and the prospect of a different life, the metros have been pouring in since 1950. An estimated 10-15% of the island's inhabitants are Zoreilles, some of whom have been living here for decades, others just passing through for a few years. They are concentrated in the affluent beach region, nicknamed "Zoreil-land", as well as in Saint-Denis. Those born on Reunion Island, or Creoles with a Zoreille parent, are known as "Zoréoles". Today, in addition to civil servants, it's mainly young people from mainland France who have just graduated, mainly in the medical field, who come to settle here in search of something new for six months, a year or two years, but rarely more, resulting in a high turnover on the island. Also present are thirty-somethings often oppressed by metropolitan urbanization and stress, who come to start a family on the island, to offer their offspring more simplicity and more freedom in a breathtaking natural setting.
Shy regional immigration
Comorian immigration began as soon as the Comoros gained independence in 1976, while the Mahorais, who remained French, arrived en masse in the 1990s and 2000s, attracted in particular by the advantageous social benefits and driven out by Mayotte's high unemployment rate. Today, the Mahorais and Comorians account for around 5% of the population, and over 50% of the Mahorais in Réunion are single mothers. Still suffering from discrimination and racism, this community, often referred to as "the Komor", is the most disadvantaged on the island. With only 1.8% foreigners, Réunion is one of France's departments with the fewest foreigners, although this number has doubled in the last twenty years. Three-quarters of them come from the Indian Ocean, mainly from Madagascar, followed by Mauritius and Comoros. Other foreigners are so few in number as to be almost anecdotal. Algerians, Moroccans and Tunisians total just 400 people, as many as the Chinese and Indians, despite their billions of inhabitants and cultural links. Finally, there are a few Belgians and Swiss, as well as a contingent of Spanish physiotherapists.
Popular last names
Payet (pronounced "payette"), Grondin or Hoareau... If you're looking for someone with one of these three names, don't forget to specify their first name and commune. Not only do these surnames fill a record number of pages in Réunion's telephone directory, they are also present on the largest branches of the Réunionese family tree. According to the cercle généalogique de Bourbon, one of the first women to set foot on Reunion soil, around 1663, was a Madagascan from Fort-Dauphin by the name of Louise Sariane. Wife of the first Grondin, then the first Payet, she fathered eleven children, one hundred and seventeen grandchildren and six hundred and fifty-two great-grandchildren! What's more, at the time of abolition, freed slaves were required to provide a first and last name, either using their imagination or borrowing that of their former master. So today, we find the same names as in the early days of colonization: Payet, Grondin, Hoareau, Boyer and Fontaine, or Rivière, Hibon, Bernard, Técher, Maillot and Dijoux.
Creole, a crossbreeding language that unites
Born at the time of colonization as the only means of communication between black slaves and their white masters, but also between slaves themselves as they came from different countries, the Creole language borrows the vast majority of its vocabulary from the French of the time and today, but with radically different syntax and verbal constructions, derived from East African languages. Other Creoles are spoken around the world, notably in the Antilles, Haiti, the Seychelles and Mauritius. This ever-changing language adapts to changing circumstances, sometimes inventing comical images(Alon bat'caré: "come for a walk", Cari d'sous d'riz: "do something on the sly", Argent-braguette: "family allowance"...). Spoken in private, in the family or in the village, it differs from French, the language of formal situations, administration and school. As an oral language, it varies from place to place: an inhabitant of Saint-Benoît does not use the same expressions as someone from Saint-Pierre or Saint-Gilles. A Creole speaker from the Bas will sometimes have difficulty understanding people from the Hauts. For a time, Creole was suppressed and even forbidden in children's education, but it is gradually regaining its rights, with a cultural renaissance and a promotion in status. A number of novels have been published in Creole, and Le Petit Prince and Tintin have even been translated, as have a number of theatrical classics. Creole can now be heard on every radio station, on some television programs, and everywhere in the street. This raises the question of teaching it in schools, but as an oral and diverse language, it is not so easy to codify, so it would be necessary to first agree on a common Creole to propose, which is not so easy. However, since September 2002, a degree in Creole leading to a Capes diploma has been taught at the faculty, along with disciplines such as history, lexicology and anthropology, and some elementary school have a "Creole language" option. For the traveler, speaking Creole is bound to raise a smile. Conversation often begins with koman i lé? and the response that follows is: lé la. After that, you need to refer to the lexicon, but it's a good idea to start your sentences with oté! It's the most common interjection... But even with a good vocabulary, you won't catch on to the Creole language like that. It's a question of rhythm, feeling, repartee - in short, naturalness - which only Creoles have. In other words, if you speak Creole like a zoreille, you'll be spoken to like a gratel.
